Instinctif Partners

Instinctif Partners, up to 2014 known as College Group, is a Public Relations (PR) company based in the United Kingdom (UK), with a presence in Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and Africa.[1]

Background

Staff: Past & Present

Relationship with the Tobacco Industry

Helped Imperial Tobacco Set Up ‘Grassroot’ Opposition to European E-cigarette Regulations

Since 2018 Instinctif Partners has provided Imperial Tobacco with “monitoring and strategic advice on a number of issues but mainly related to vaping”.[3] According to Instinctif’s entry on the EU Transparency Register, this contract was worth between €50,000 and €99,000 in 2018.[4] Under Instinctif’s guidance, Imperial Tobacco paid €10,000 to fund an European Citizens Initiative called “Let’s demand smarter vaping regulations”,[5] a petition that calls for the European Commission to repeal EU Tobacco Products Directive Article 20, which is concerned with the regulation of E-cigarettes.[6] Instinctif’s Managing Partner Brandon Mitchener also revealed to Politico that the tobacco company was setting up a website to allow citizens to add their signature to the petition.[3] The website, vapingisnottobacco.eu, was launched at the end of April 2019.[7]

Sponsoring and organising otherwise disorganised citizens into visible ‘grassroot’ opposition to tobacco legislation is called Astroturfing and is a well-known tactic used by the tobacco industry, often hiding behind PR companies.[8] Corporate watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory has condemned Imperial’s activities, stating that the tobacco company “has vested commercial interests in getting vaping products excluded from the Tobacco Products Directive and is abusing a democratic tool for citizenship participation”.[3]

Worked with the E-cigarette Industry

In 2014 Instinctif Partners handled the PR of NJOY,[11] an independent American e-cigarette company, which was taken to court over e-cigarette patent claims that same year by Fontem Ventures, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco.
NJOY and Fontem Ventures settled in 2015.[12] In September 2016 NJOY filed for bankruptcy.[13]